F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 213 The Red Flag!

As Q3 approached, Wu Shi began to worry, because he felt the sky was getting darker.

Jonathan was even more worried than him. Looking at the cloud and rain map, he immediately gave the order to leave the station as soon as possible.

The crew didn't dare to delay and immediately released the train after ensuring safety.

Sainz, who had gone out ahead of him, arrived at the track and immediately said over the team radio, "The ground is still dry, I don't think it's raining."

This is something all the drivers can confirm after leaving the pits. However, since they have entered the track early, everyone is queuing up in a very tacit manner.

Each team is also instructing its drivers to maintain distance from those ahead.

This way, after the warm-up lap, the car formation has enough space for everyone to start the flying lap.

Sainz quickly completed his first lap with a time of 1 minute 17.111 seconds, which was clearly a slow start.

"To prevent a repeat of last time, Wu Shi, you need to run a good effective lap as quickly as possible," Jonathan immediately reminded him.

Wu Shi was positioned in the middle of the chariot formation. He made preparations immediately after receiving the news.

This lap requires speed and no mistakes, so it's destined that he can't push himself to the limit in certain areas.

In this situation, his error rate is very low, so he is fully confident that he can run a minimum lap.

Because the race car has little play, he has to be very careful every time he turns the steering wheel, and he needs to carefully feel the grip of the front and rear tires when he presses the accelerator. When braking, he has to anticipate whether he can stop in time before the corner.

‘10、11、15、16、19。’

As I sped along, I silently noted down the space I could squeeze out of each of the curves.

Susu!

The race car crosses the finish line in 1 minute 16.011 seconds!

Jonathan was very satisfied with the result, but then Wu Shi's TR started playing:

"I can go even faster; I should cool down before speeding up."

“Yes, we have a brand new set of supersoft tires. You can go for one more lap, and then go for a third lap after you pit,” Jonathan reminded him.

Since the Monaco race will definitely be a one-stop event, the team only needs to leave behind one set of new soft tires.

Hamilton's first flying lap time is out: 1 minute 15.704 seconds.

Mercedes' lap time here is terrifyingly strong, even though it wasn't perfect!
The difference between customer teams like Williams and factory teams is now vividly demonstrated; a powerful engine alone is not enough to handle all tracks.

On the warm-up lap, Wu Shi's right front wheel almost grazed the guardrail as he turned through Turn 19 and entered the starting straight.

The second lap of speeding will be a time of extreme, fully focused speeding!

Of course, due to tire wear, many things couldn't be done as planned.

No problem, this lap is also a chance to gain experience. When the third lap comes, I will definitely try to catch up with the top two!
When you drive with the mindset that you don't care about getting into a car accident, the guardrails that suddenly approach and then suddenly disappear become insignificant.

On the long straight, the FW37's speed was approaching 295, but it still didn't have time to shift into 8th gear because of the insufficient length.

Before turn 1, I applied the brakes hard to bring the car to a low speed, then slowly released them, completing a simple tracking brake, and turned right over the red and white curb that wasn't too prominent.

This is one of the few road shoulders that can be heavily compacted.

However, you also need to pay attention to acceleration. You can accelerate before the rear wheels hit the curb.

When the rear wheel hits the curb for almost an instant, you need to release the accelerator, otherwise the car will fishtail.

Buzz!

Without data to demonstrate the extremely high precision of throttle and brake control, no one could analyze it clearly.

After entering the uphill section after Turn 1, Wu Shi took a moment to assess the grip of the front and rear wheels, and then stepped on the accelerator, causing the vehicle to accelerate rapidly.

Before reaching the top of the hill, the speed is 280, still in 7th gear. You need to slowly slow down to enter turns 2, 3, and 4. This is the last difficult point before the first timed section.

Before Turn 4, the cars will be very close to the left guardrail, which is also the first downhill corner.

After the car's center of gravity shifted forward, the pressure on the front wheels increased suddenly. In order to maintain the stability of the vehicle, Wu Shi had to adjust the brake balance while entering the corner.

At this point, the speed at the apex of the bend is almost dropping below 120.

"Wu Shi's speed on that lap was really fast!"

"Hamilton is also speeding ahead, just entering the middle section, while Wu Shi still has some time to reach the S1 finish line."

"Wow! Williams' top speed is pretty fast! It was 5kph faster than Mercedes on both full-throttle stretches."

"Really! But at Turn 4, we were almost 7kph slower."

"Wow! The vehicle is slightly understeer!"

On the track, Wu Shi was breathing heavily. He had pressed the accelerator a little too hard, and the understeer almost ruined the race.

"Whoosh!"

He continued racing, passing the first timeout, and Jonathan's voice immediately rang out: "You're leading Hamilton by 0.001."

This broadcast gave him more confidence, but the following turns 5-8 were exceptionally complex, and had to be completed while going downhill, which undoubtedly greatly increased the overall difficulty.

The sound of gears shifting and the engine's high-pitched and low-pitched sounds mingled together as Wu Shi finally rounded Turn 8.

The straight section through the tunnel was FW37's advantageous section. Before exiting the tunnel, the top speed was almost 300 km/h. At that moment, Wu Shi had to brake hard and quickly downshift.

Turning left, the front wheel slightly rubbed against the guardrail at Turn 10, rubbing off some of the red circles on the Pirelli tires. Then, it immediately straightened and turned right.

Press down on the red and white shoulder at the center of turn 11. There is a yellow high shoulder in the center that you can touch slightly to gain more turning space.

After turning right to bypass the double bend, I immediately turned left and almost touched the left guardrail again. I then had to adjust the car to the far right to prepare for entering turn 12.

Hiss! !
Here, the lack of grip on the front wheels again affected the speed in the corner, and Wu Shi had to straighten the steering wheel more slowly when exiting the corner in order to make good use of every inch of space on the right to ensure sufficient acceleration.

Wu Shi felt the friction between the right tire and the guardrail. If he had veered just a little more to the right, he would have crashed!
Similarly, if he hadn't veered so far to the right, he would have crashed headfirst into the guardrail.

Everything was just right. After turning left and right through turns 13 and 14, they soon arrived at turns 15 and 16. Wu Shi had repeatedly emphasized in his mind that the yellow shoulder here must not be touched!
Susu!

The astonishing speed caught the attention of the broadcasters.

At this moment, the screen shows Wu Shi driving a Williams, while below, on the timing board, is a segment showing Hamilton having already completed the race – 1 minute 15.304 seconds.

The other one is Wu Shi, who is currently keeping track of time.

Buzz! !
After Turn 16, the three non-combination turns became much easier, but when passing Turn 19, the camera directly showed the deformation of Wu Shi's right front wheel due to compression.

People standing outside the guardrail can clearly see the debris from the friction and the guardrail shaking after the race car has passed.

Swish!
Wu Shi crossed the line.

1 minute 15.419 seconds
A circle of stars!
“Excellent! Wu Shi! Excellent! You are simply a god!” Jonathan’s excited voice rang out.

"P1?"

Wu Shi was all smiles. He slowed down, as the tires couldn't withstand any more damage. The right front tire was definitely severely damaged, and any more speed might cause it to blow out.

“Uh.” Jonathan’s voice trailed off, and after a moment he said, “Hamilton’s time is 1 minute 15.304 seconds.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Shi smacked his lips and glanced at the flat spots on the right side that flickered as the tires rotated.

If it's a new tire, it should be able to catch up with Hamilton, right?
His heart rate, which had been maintained at 180, was stimulated again. He felt the beads of sweat on his cheeks, which brought a slight itching sensation.

"Do we still have time for one more speed lap?"

"Yes, Hamilton is also preparing to pit for a tire change, so you both still have one more chance."

"Wow!"

Then Jonathan exclaimed, "You're faster than Rosberg, whose time is 1 minute 15.440 seconds."

"He'll probably stop at the station to change the tire again, right?"

"Yes."

Soon, Vettel's time came out: 1 minute 15.877 seconds.

Although it is also very fast, it is still quite far behind Rosberg.

"It looks like the competition for pole position is going to be very fierce!"

"How did Williams achieve that time?!"

"Didn't you see? The straightaway tuning is perfect; it's even faster than the Mercedes!"

"But it's much slower on the curves!"

While the two commentators were arguing, the broadcast began to show several slow-motion shots.

These were all taken from special camera angles, and you can see that Williams' tires grazed the guardrail several times.

Especially at bend 19, the deformation caused by the tires and guardrails being squeezed together is clearly visible.

"That was so dangerous! Wu Shi was pushing the limits!"

"Rather than saying he pushed himself too hard, it's more accurate to say that if he hadn't pushed himself so hard, he probably wouldn't have been able to get through the corner."

The commentary was quite good; at every extreme point, you could see the instability in the vehicle's dynamics.

In the pit lane, the drivers who didn't participate in Q3 were all watching the big screen. Alonso stroked his chin, smiled, shook his head repeatedly, and kept muttering:

"Incredible! How did they get out of there?!"

Massa and Grosjean, standing nearby, both looked as if they had witnessed a spectacular performance, their faces beaming with smiles and their eyes shining.

Only the drivers themselves can truly appreciate the incredible skill of Wu Shi, who is also a driver.

“I even suspect that at the exit of Turn 16, any slight change in the throttle, brakes, or steering could cause an accident,” Button said.

Everyone agreed with this statement, because there, Williams was almost thrown over.

"It's time to switch to new red tires."

Several people spoke up, "Is the ultimate showdown about to begin?"

In Monaco, driving such a struggling car, I overtook the formidable Mercedes.

How much potential still remains to be tapped in Wu Shi?

After the tires were warmed up, the old man was still in front. It wasn't until he reached the first timing segment that Wu Shi started speeding.

Behind him were Vettel and Rosberg.

The new red tires have stronger grip, which gives Wu Shi more confidence and room to maneuver. He doesn't need to push the limits in some places, but at the same time, the degree of vehicle slippage is also different from before.

As soon as the first timeout ended, Jonathan frowned slightly when he saw the numbers and said, "0.12 seconds behind Hamilton."

This number made Wu Shi's heart skip a beat. What the hell?

A timing segment is 0.12 seconds fast?!

Such a huge gap immediately calmed Wu Shi, who had just been somewhat pleased. He had to push himself even further than before!
Fortunately, the new soft tires had better performance, and he drove the entire downhill section from turn 5 to turn 8 with breathtaking skill.

The repeated hard braking caused the tires to wear out rapidly; they would definitely be ruined after this sprint!

Wu Shi didn't need to worry about any of that; his mind was racing!
Susu!

The race car sped into the tunnel, roaring past with a heavy thud.

Kaka!

On turn 10, the left wheel claps with the guardrail, and the right wheel immediately follows onto the shoulder on turn 11.

The near-out-of-control driving style, however, allowed some time to be saved.

Jonathan glanced at the time; at the same position, Wu Shi and Hamilton were only 0.09 seconds apart!
We're getting it back!

In the second time segment, Wu Shi was faster!
hoohoo!

Suddenly, the camera shifted from Wu Shi to Hamilton, and the results were announced.

1 minutes 15 seconds 098!

"Oh God! Lewis ran a time of 1 minute 15.098 seconds! He broke the record for this track! He's like a god descended from heaven!"

The commentator had barely shouted twice before he yelled again in an even louder voice: "Rosberg Turn 1 is locked!"

Will a yellow flag be raised?!

The broadcast camera was now focused on Rosberg, and this time the camera lock was definitely not intentional on Rosberg's part.

Because he was slower than Hamilton and also slower than Wu Shi, and he was waiting for this round to turn the tide, how could he possibly make a mistake on purpose?

But perhaps I've gotten used to it because I've made so many mistakes here!
Just as the commentator was about to say a few more words, the camera suddenly switched to a replay of Wu Shi's performance.

Williams sped into the sharp corner at a faster cornering speed than Mercedes, and the time it took to recover was probably 0.05 seconds!
However, as it exited the corner, the FW37's body jolted, and the entire car bounced instantly. The right rear wheel suspension broke off, and the front wheel also wobbled erratically, leaving a trail of sparks and lightning as it dragged on.

They collided!
Wu Shi was involved in his first serious collision on the field!

The immense inertia caused the vehicle to drag on the ground for a long time.

"Oh my god! Damn it! So close! So close!"

Wu Shi's furious voice rang out in TR!

"Hey, are you okay? Calm down!" Jonathan said promptly.

Upon hearing the voice of his track engineer, Wu Shi felt his throat become hoarse and he felt somewhat dizzy.

He didn't expect to crash, but he did. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he probably would have suffered more than just a minor physical impact.

However, none of that matters. What matters is why it was just a little short!

The suspension couldn't withstand the pressure and broke. If it had been slightly off-center, it might not have exceeded the limits of the race car.

The camera zoomed in on Wu Shi, red flags were waving on the track, and soon Matthew ran up to Wu Shi and started gesturing.

They saw that Wu Shi had not come out for a long time and assumed that he was seriously injured.

Wu Shi took a few deep breaths before waving "OK," removing the headrest and tossing it aside. He then removed the steering wheel, but didn't throw it around carelessly.

He climbed out of the car, went around to the back, and stared at the broken right rear overhang for a long time without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)